The answer is “no”.

That is a ludicrous and, frankly, a chilling statement from a regulator that is supposed to protect Scotland’s most vulnerable children and young people. There are massive safeguarding issues arising from that reckless guidance.

However, it is not just the Care Inspectorate. The Scottish Prison Service is in the spotlight once again because it is allowing trans-identifying prison officers to perform intimate and utterly unacceptable rub-down searches of vulnerable women who are visiting the prison estate. Violent trans-identifying men can still be housed in the female prison estate in certain circumstances.

Will the Scottish Government finally do the decent thing, lay down the law for Scotland’s public bodies and tell them to withdraw ill-informed and insidious guidance that allows the rights of male-bodied individuals to transcend those of women and girls?

The cabinet secretary may be interested to know that the Care Inspectorate’s “Guidance for children and young people’s services on the inclusion of transgender including non-binary young people” makes the following statement:

“The provision of gendered facilities such as toilets is social convention. There is no law in Scotland about this.”

Does the Scottish Government agree with the Care Inspectorate’s statement?

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review public sector guidance on single-sex spaces, in light of reported concerns about the Care Inspectorate and the Scottish Prison Service. (S6T-02422)

I welcome Audrey Nicoll’s members’ business debate to celebrate international women’s day 2025. The day is an opportunity to celebrate women’s achievements, and I would like to highlight the work of some truly fantastic women in the north-east who do so much to support their communities.

Jennifer Garnes is the headteacher of Strathmore primary school in Forfar. She cares passionately about creating adaptive environments to provide equal opportunities for all learners. Her work resulted in the school becoming the first in Scotland to be awarded an ADHD friendly school award.

Mary Geaney is the chief executive officer of Rossie Young People’s Trust in Montrose. She leads a team of 185 staff to deliver trauma-informed care, education, health and specialist psychological services for young people with multiple and complex needs in secure care.

Helen Reid from Laurencekirk was my local hero for the Scottish Parliament’s 25th anniversary celebration. She makes such a positive contribution to improving her local area by holding fundraising events and coffee mornings to provide Christmas lights and summer hanging baskets.

Jill Fotheringham, a local businesswoman, has been campaigning for many years to improve the treacherous Laurencekirk junction, which has caused too many deaths, collisions and near misses. Her unwavering commitment to the campaign has, at all times, kept the pressure on Transport Scotland and Aberdeenshire Council to get shovels in the ground.

Other women, such as Angela Taylor from the Angus Pylon Action Group and June Morrison from the Leylodge against industrialisation group, are leading the charge against the megapylon plans that will puncture the beautiful countryside of the north-east and decimate communities.

Those special and brilliant women, and many more besides, have made such a difference to their communities, personally and professionally, and I am delighted to have the opportunity to pay tribute to them today.

As the motion highlights, this year’s IWD theme is accelerate action, to address with renewed urgency the barriers that many women face. I will focus the remainder of my remarks on two of those barriers—the crippling cost of childcare and difficulties accessing diagnosis and treatment for medical conditions such as cervical cancer and endometriosis.

After working in human resources for more than 30 years, I know how vital accessible childcare is for women as they return to work after maternity leave. There are two issues with childcare in Scotland—cost and availability. Both have been highlighted in a petition to the Parliament that was lodged by Aberdeenshire mum Julie Fraser. She is calling for funded hours to be introduced in Scotland when a baby is nine months old. That has already been rolled out in England. Women who want to work are being priced out of the workforce because of sky-high nursery fees. Funded hours from when a baby is nine months old would be a game changer for many working parents.

On women’s health, no woman should have to ensure sleepless nights because of delays to diagnosis and treatment. Conditions such as endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome can have a massive impact on a woman’s physical and mental wellbeing, but it can take years to secure a diagnosis. The Dundee endo warriors have been doing brilliant work to shine a light on women’s health inequalities.

Women across Scotland are making such a difference every day. It is our duty to come together and knock down the barriers that are holding them back.

I welcome Audrey Nicoll’s members’ business debate to celebrate international women’s day 2025. The day is an opportunity to celebrate women’s achievements, and I would like to highlight the work of some truly fantastic women in the north-east who do so much to support their communities.

Jennifer Garnes is the headteacher of Strathmore primary school in Forfar. She cares passionately about creating adaptive environments to provide equal opportunities for all learners. Her work resulted in the school becoming the first in Scotland to be awarded an ADHD friendly school award.

Mary Geaney is the chief executive officer of Rossie Young People’s Trust in Montrose. She leads a team of 185 staff to deliver trauma-informed care, education, health and specialist psychological services for young people with multiple and complex needs in secure care.

Helen Reid from Laurencekirk was my local hero for the Scottish Parliament’s 25th anniversary celebration. She makes such a positive contribution to improving her local area by holding fundraising events and coffee mornings to provide Christmas lights and summer hanging baskets.

Jill Fotheringham, a local businesswoman, has been campaigning for many years to improve the treacherous Laurencekirk junction, which has caused too many deaths, collisions and near misses. Her unwavering commitment to the campaign has, at all times, kept the pressure on Transport Scotland and Aberdeenshire Council to get shovels in the ground.

Other women, such as Angela Taylor from the Angus Pylon Action Group and June Morrison from the Leylodge against industrialisation group, are leading the charge against the megapylon plans that will puncture the beautiful countryside of the north-east and decimate communities.

Those special and brilliant women, and many more besides, have made such a difference to their communities, personally and professionally, and I am delighted to have the opportunity to pay tribute to them today.

As the motion highlights, this year’s IWD theme is accelerate action, to address with renewed urgency the barriers that many women face. I will focus the remainder of my remarks on two of those barriers—the crippling cost of childcare and difficulties accessing diagnosis and treatment for medical conditions such as cervical cancer and endometriosis.

After working in human resources for more than 30 years, I know how vital accessible childcare is for women as they return to work after maternity leave. There are two issues with childcare in Scotland—cost and availability. Both have been highlighted in a petition to the Parliament that was lodged by Aberdeenshire mum Julie Fraser. She is calling for funded hours to be introduced in Scotland when a baby is nine months old. That has already been rolled out in England. Women who want to work are being priced out of the workforce because of sky-high nursery fees. Funded hours from when a baby is nine months old would be a game changer for many working parents.

On women’s health, no woman should have to endure sleepless nights because of delays to diagnosis and treatment. Conditions such as endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome can have a massive impact on a woman’s physical and mental wellbeing, but it can take years to secure a diagnosis. The Dundee endo warriors have been doing brilliant work to shine a light on women’s health inequalities.

Women across Scotland are making such a difference every day. It is our duty to come together and knock down the barriers that are holding them back.

Will the minister take an intervention?

If I have time, I will take an intervention at the end.

As Roz McCall and Rachael Hamilton mentioned, research from For Women Scotland shows that, in 2024, only 13 of the 243 secondary schools in Scotland provided single-sex toilets.

What have we seen today? It is absolutely no surprise that neither of the Government ministers took any interventions from either Labour or the Scottish Conservatives—or, in fact, from their own back benchers, which is telling. They refused. This is a Government that will not tolerate scrutiny unless it is on the Government’s own terms.

I say to Lorna Slater that there is no way that she can equate someone’s bathroom at home with a toilet facility in the NHS—that is absolutely absurd.

Lorna Slater was the only person to use the word “hate”. I am glad that Paul O’Kane brought the debate back. He talked about the need for facts, the balance of rights and the importance of dignity and respect in debate. Maggie Chapman was true to form, with emotion trumping logic and fact. Once again, she used the term “cis”, which so many women, including me, find offensive. Why does the word “woman” need to be qualified?

I also noticed that, until now, the Labour benches were almost empty. I know that members are looking at me and looking down, but it is unsurprising given Labour’s botched U-turn on women’s rights. Mercedes Villalba, you did a brilliant job for your colleagues who were absent by making all your interventions—

We have had enough!

Will the cabinet secretary take an intervention?

I completely agree—that is not engaging in the debate, and it just shows what has happened in the seat of so-called Scottish democracy, which is absolutely shameful.

Presiding Officer, our questions were swerved; sub judice was seized upon; and SNP scripts—as we have seen today—were woodenly read out. Twice now, the SNP Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee convener, Karen Adam, has shut me down when I have been asking questions on these issues.

The public—we see people in the public gallery today—is rightly wondering what the Scottish Parliament is for, if the most salient issues of the day are all but ignored by the party that is in power.

It has fallen to the Scottish Conservatives to bring the debate to the chamber today. We will not let the SNP get away with it. It is through our public services, our schools, the NHS and leisure centres that women and girls most frequently interact with the state. In those settings, they are often at their most vulnerable. They must always be kept safe, and their dignity and privacy must be respected.

However, as Roz McCall and Rachael Hamilton mentioned—